Knitted fabric or garment and in the production thereof



June 7, 1938. T. H. JONES ET AL. 2,120,181

KNITTED FABRIC OR GARMENT AND 1N THE PRODUCTION THEREOF Filed July 3 Sheets-Sheet l O "gai/M June 7, 1938. T. H. JONES ET AL. 2,120,181

KNITTED FABRIC OR GARMENT AND 1N THE PRODUCTION THEREOF Filed July 17, 1956 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Am v ` In@ 'zum i1/...Q

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June 7, 1938 T. H. JONES ET AL. A 2,120,181

KNITTED FABRIC OR GARMENT AND 1N THE PRODUCTION THEREOF Filed July 17, 1936 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 L L )l l I i ,Y a, l j j y i/ .r A f "H l L) "H D XY) l i j wrom/Enf Patented @one 7 srs ENE'ETED FABRE@ @R GRFJIENT ANB EN s THE EREDUCTHN 'EWREF rooms ne ehomies, Woodtlliorpe, and hert nos shemales, adriana, assieme to Eonery Beveioprnents mitad,

England Liprilieation il@ (Claims.

This invention comprises improvements in knitted aorics or garments and in the produuction thereof and has particular, although not exclusive, reference to ladies stockings made of iine gauge iahric.

important object oi the present invention is to eliminate or minimize the possibility o the quality or appearance oi knitted fabric, articles or garments being impaired 'oy the production therein' of undesirable lines due to inequalities or variations in the size and/or shade of the yarn employed in knitting the articles; said lines, in the case oi ladies toll-fashioned iine gauge silk stockings made on a Cottons patent or like straight tar machine, usually appearing in the orm of rings.

'it has heretofore been proposed, with the object o minimizing this defect in the production of stocb'ngs on a straight har machine, to knit a succession oi groups o stitch courses ci which each group is composed of successive courses each knit from a dierent thread, i. e. a `thread drawn :trom a separate supply; and in this way thread miring is eected, that is to say threads of the same colour and character taken from dierent supplies, and no two successive courses vare lrnit rom the saine thread at that part of the stoching where the ining is edected.

The fabric or articles in this invention has incorporated therein stitches that are locked or tied by the introduction ci stitch-locmng thread additional to the stitch-forming thread, thereby eliminating or reducing the possibility of stitchiaddering or running; and according to the pres entinvention a knitted iabric or article of this kind produced on a straight har knitting machine is provided composed of two or more threads and in which dierent threads, (threads drawn from diner-ent supplies) unctioning either as ground thread (stitch thread) and/or stitch-locking thread, are laid in successive knitted courses. In this way a ladderprooi or ladder-resistant knitted fabric knitted on a straight bar machine provided wherein different threads appear in successively knitted courses as ground threads and/or as stitch-locking threads, and the threads in the fabric are thereby effectively mixed so as to eliminate or u' irregularities in the :finished fabric as aforesaid.

The particular construction of the fabric can be varied in many ways within the ambit of the present invention.Y For example, the fabric or article maybe composed of two or more threads and each thread oi at leest two threads mayr Nottingham,

,Holly i7, i936, Seriali No. Mld@ Great Britain ."i'uliy 2%, 13.935

ici eef-reo) function as a ground thread on some courses and as a stitch-locking thread on other courses.

The improved knitted fabric or garment may be of the kind which is rendered ladderproof or ladder-resistant by the incorporation of stitches that are locked or tied by the introduction of stitch-locking thread additional to the stitch-forming thread. Advantageously, although not necessarily, locking or tying of the stitch loops is eiecd by passing a thread loop through and also around or over another loop,

or, in other words, by completely encircling each side har or leg ofa stitch loop with locking thread which also extends from one side to the other of said loop.

For the purpose oi more fully describing the 'nature oi this invention reference will now he made to the accompanying drawings, wherein:-

l'igs. i to 6 illustrate six embodiments of improved iabricaccording to the present invention.

in every case the fabric is composed of two different or distinct threads, i. e. threads of the same kind and shade drawn from different supplies. in the construction shown in Fig. 1 four threads drawn from different supplies are incorporated, three ci said threads a, h and c heing employed as ground or stitch-forming threads, hereinafter referred to as ground threads, and the fourth thread d being employed as a stitch-locking thread. Stitch courses are iormed in succession rorn the three ground threads a, b and c and the stitches in each course are ioclred by one and the same stitch-locking thread d.

. in. producing this fabric on a Cottons patent or similar straight bar knitting machine, such as is employed in the production ci full-fashioned stockings, four thread carriers or guides operate over each section of the machine, each carrier receiving thread from .a separate supply, and all the threads being advantageously of the saine kind in every respect. Three oi the carriers opn crate to lay the three ground threads o, b and c, while the fourth carrier operates to traverse the stitch-locking thread d. One carrier supplied with the thread a is rst traversed across the needles which are then operated to produce the rst course l of knitted stitches in the customary manner, said carrier being retained at the end of its traverse. The carrier supplied with the locking thread d is then traversed to lay its thread and the needles are operated to produce therefrom locking loops about the ground thread Stitches in course I. The carrier supplied with the second ground thread b is then, traversed to make a second course 2 of stitch loops interlinking with the stitch loops in course I, and the carrier appertaining to this ground thread b is l a reverse direction to lock the stitch loops in said third course 3. After this the before-described movements are repeated by rst traversing the ground thread carrier supplied with the thread a to produce course 4 of stitches which are then locked by traversing the carrier supplied with the locking thread d, this being followed by the traverse of the carriers to lay the ground threads b and c; it being understood that after each course of stitches has been produced the locking thread d is traversed to lock said stitches.

In the construction shown in Fig. 2 six thread carriers are employed, three of said carriers functioning to lay three different ground threads, e, f and g, and the remaining three carriers functioning to lay three different locking threads h, i and y'. The production of this fabric shown in Fig. 2 is similar to that described with reference to Fig. 1 except that instead of laying the same locking thread at each successive course, the three distinct locking threads h., i and y' are separately and sequentially laid at successive stitch courses; consequently each group of. three successive stitch courses is composed of three distinct ground threads and three distinct stitchlocking threads, the order of laying the several threads in the production of courses I', 2 and 3 being repeated in courses 4, 5 and 6 and to any desired extent throughout the fabric.

The construction shown in Fig. 3 is the reverse of that shown in Fig. 1, that is' to say whereas in Fig. 1 three distinct ground threads a, b and c are employed and selectively laid to form successive stitch courses, each course being locked by one and the same stitch-locking thread d, in Fig. 3 one and the same ground thread Ic is traversed by one and the same carrier to and fro to produce successive courses of stitches, while three carriers supplied with three distinct stitchlocking threads l, m and n are operated in succession to traverse their threads and lock the stitches in successive courses.

Figs. 4 and 5 illustrate examples of fabric composed of two or more different or distinct threads in which each thread of at least two threads functions as a ground thread on some courses and as a stitch-locking thread on other courses or vice versa. In the construction shown in Fig. 4, two threads o, p are employed, each thread functioning at one stitch course as a ground thread and at the next succeeding course as a stitchlocking thread, the thread change being, therefore, effected at successive courses. In kother words, each of the two threads o, p is laid on alternate courses as a stitch-forming thread and on the remaining alternate courses as a stitchlocking thread, the alternate traverse of the two thread carriers being continued throughout the fabric.

In the modification shown in Fig. 5 four threads q, r, s and w are employed, said threads being'laid in succession to produce successive stitch courses, and each thread being subsequently traversed in an opposite direction as a locking thread to lock the stitches in a subsequently knitted course. In this case, however, instead of returning a thread laid as a ground thread in one course to lock the stitches formed from another ground thread in the next succeeding course, each thread is returned to lock the stitches in the next but one succeeding course. In other words, assuming that courses I, 2 and 3 of ground thread stitch loops are produced respectively from threads q, r and s, the thread q forming course I is subsequently traversed in a reverse direction to lock the stitches in course 3, whilst the thread r forming course 2 is returned to lock the stitches in course 4, and the thread s forming course 3 is returned to lock the stitches of course 5, and so on throughout the fabric.

In the further modification illustrated in Fig. 6 three distinct threads t, u, v are employed. In this construction, however, each thread is first laid ln 'one direction to produce a course of ground thread loops and is immediately returned in an opposite direction to constitute a locking thread and lock the stitches formed from the same thread. When course I has been produced rom the thread t, said thread is returned as a locking thread to lock the stitches in said course. The second thread u is now traversed to form course 2 of stitch loops interlinking with the loops of course I and said second thread u is immediately returned to lock the stitches in this course. The third thread v is now traversed to form a third course of interlinking stitches, said thread v being also returned to lock the stitches in said third course. The thread t appertaining to course I is now again traversed to form course 4 and return in an opposite direction to lock the stitches of such course, after which the thread u appertaining to course 2 is again traversed to form course 5 and return to lock the stitches of said course, the third thread v being then traversed to form course 6 and return to lock the stitches therein, this being repeated throughout the fabric. It will, of course, be appreciated that the number of threads successively laid to produce ground thread stitches and to lock said stitches may be varied as desired. For example,

`only two such threads may be employed and traversed alternately.

In fabrics according to the present invention where a plurality of different or distinct ground threads are employed and the locking thread or threads is or are retained throughout the fabric as a locking thread or threads, the latter may be appreciably iincr than said ground threads and consequently less conspicuous in the nished fabric. In such case, however, it must be borne in mind that diiferent ground threads are laid at successive courses.

From the above it will be appreciated that in any two consecutive courses of stitches diiferent threads are employed either as ground threads or locking threads or both, consequently the thread change from one course to another effectively eliminates or minimizes striping or ring effects in a knitted fabric or article such as a stocking. The number of different threads, i. e. threads withdrawn from different supplies introduced in the fabric can be varied as desired Within the ambit of the present invention, and in the production of certain classes of garments or articles the traverse of the locking thread may be interrupted to suit existing requirements.

We claimz- 1. A fiat knitted fabric, or article composed of a plurality of threads drawn from different supplies in which each thread of at least two threads functions as a ground thread and also as a stitch-locking thread on the same course and wherein successive courses of stitches are formed from diierent threads, i. e. threads Withdrawn from different supplies.

2. A at knitted fabric or article composed of two different threads, i. e. threads drawn from different supplies, wherein at each course one of said threads is laid as a ground or stitchforming thread and the other thread is laid as a stitch-locking thread and wherein the thread functioning as a ground thread in one course constitutes a stitch-locking thread in the next succeeding course and vice versa.

3. A fiat knitted fabric or article composed of a plurality of threads drawn from different supplies wherein at least two different threads function as ground threads and at least another two different threads function as stitch-locking threads and wherein both the ground threads and the stitch-locking threads are changed at successive stitch courses.

4. A fiat knitted fabric embodying stitches that are locked or tied by stitch-locking thread to minimize or obstruct stitch-laddering or running, said fabric being composed of a plurality of different threads (threads drawn from different supplies) each of a succession of knitted courses comprising ground thread (stitch thread) and stitch-locking thread and no two successively knitted courses of said succession of courses having therein identical threads embodied and functioning in the same manner in each course.

5. A fiat knitted fabric embodying stitches that are locked or tied by stitch-locking thread to minimize or obstruct stitch-laddering or running, said fabric being composed of a plurality of diierent threads (threads drawn from dierent supplies), each of a succession of knitted courses comprising Vground thread (stitch thread) and stitch-locking thread and different threads appeering in successively knitted courses of stitches as ground threads, (stitch-forming threads).

6. A fiat knitted fabric embodying stitches that are locked or tied by stitch-locking thread to minimize or obstruct stitch-laddering or running, said fabric being composed of a plurality of dierent threads (threads drawn from different supplies), each of a succession of knitted courses comprising ground thread (stitch thread) and stitch-locking thread and different threads appearing in successively knitted courses of stitches as stitch-locking threads.

7. A at knitted fabric embodying stitches that are locked or tied by stitch-locking thread to minimize or obstruct stitch-laddering or running, said fabric being composed of a plurality of different threads (threads drawn from' different supplies), each of a succession of knitted courses comprising ground thread (stitch thread) and stitch-locking thread and different threads appearing in successively knitted courses of stitches both as ground threads and as stitchlocking threads.

8. A flat knitted fabric embodying stitches that are locked or tied by stitch-locking thread to minimize or obstruct stitch-laddering or running, said fabric being composed of a plurality of different threads (threads drawn from different supplies), each of a succession of knitted courses comprising ground thread (stitch thread) and stitch-locking thread andy each thread of -at least two different threads functioning both as a ground thread and as. a stitch-locking thread.

9. A at knitted fabric or article composed of more than two threads drawn from different supplies, said threads being employed in succession to form successive courses of stitches, and said threads beingA also employed 1n succession to lock the stitch loops formed ,from the same thread.

10. The production of a knitted fabric or article from three different threads, i. e. threads drawn from diierent supplies, said threads being -employed in succession to produce successive courses of stitches and each thread after ,being traversed and laid in one direction' to produce a course of stitch loops being immediately traversed in an opposite direction to lock the stitch loops thus formed.

THOMAS HENRY JONES.

ROBERT KIRKLAN'D MILLS. 

